• Published 19th Nov 2016
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This War of Ours - JDPrime22



Two sides of good clashing together, fighting for what they believe is right, breaking partnerships and ending friendships… human and pony alike.

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Chapter 41 - A Big Distraction

Leipzig, Germany

Leipzig Airport

2:44 p.m.



When Stark’s metal fist came crashing down on Steve’s shield, it was like the sound of thunder. Iron Man landed after his fist met the Vibranium exterior to the Captain’s shield, standing toe-to-toe with Rogers and already locked in hand-to-hand combat with the man. He swung for his helmet, but Steve was too quick, ducking and driving the edge of his shield’s face across Stark’s metal cheek.

After the expected clash of metal against metal resounded through the air, all that remained was complete and utter hell.

Complete.

Utter.

Hell.

Black Panther pounced forward, tackling the Winter Soldier down onto the hard pavement beneath them. The Punisher ducked as Daredevil swung his baton for his head. With his shoulder down, the Punisher drove forward and gored Daredevil in the sternum, sending the devil flat on his back. War Machine drove his feet forward, hitting the Falcon square in the chest and sending him tumbling back to the ground. Iron Man blocked the Captain’s strikes, missing the arrow that lodged itself into his shoulder and exploded, as well as the rainbow Pegasus driving her back hoof into the side of his head. Ant-Man shrunk down, kicking out Starlight Glimmer’s forelegs and sending the mare landing cheek-first onto the cement. Starlight quickly rolled over, yelping at the sight of the molecular-sized man running up her chest and delivering a punch that might as well have come from a full-grown man right into her nose.

Above the mare and the Ant-Man, a certain web-slinger hopped from object to object, each piece of airport equipment flung at him and covered in a red haze, courtesy of the Scarlet Witch. Spider-Man quickly turned his gaze downwards, his eyes narrowing as he shot a strand of webbing for the pink pony, more specifically, the dragon that rode her. Spike could feel as the cool webbing latched onto his back, yanking him free from Pinkie’s back and straight into the air. With the screaming dragon in tow, Spider-Man came back to the ground, sliding underneath the Scarlet Witch’s legs and yanking hard on the webbing he gripped. Spike shot into the Witch’s arms, Wanda catching him as gently as she could. Being so focused on Spike’s safety made her forget who was behind her, allowing Spider-Man to deliver a strong kick to her backside.

The Falcon’s HUD zeroed in on a few ponies rushing forward. He could see two beams of energy sent his way, causing him to quickly shift right and away from the energy beams. Twilight and Rarity gritted their teeth, their horns igniting and sending spell after spell up above to stop the Falcon. It wasn’t any use. He was too fast for them, and he showed it by blowing right through them, the two mares shielding themselves from the onslaught of wind that followed. As for Applejack, the mare charged right on ahead, her emerald gaze focused clearly on the red, white, and blue shield headed her way. With Tony dealt with by Rainbow, Steve joined Falcon in the forward charge, only for him to bring up his shield and block the oncoming buck from Applejack.

The farm pony snorted, rearing her hind legs and sending another buck his way. Steve could feel the added pressure from the second strike, his body moving back a few inches, his feet skidding across the pavement. Quickly anticipating the third strike, Steve moved out of the way with speed that Applejack just wasn’t prepared for. He appeared by her side, swiping low with his leg and kicking out Applejack’s legs right from under her. The mare landed with a painful yelp, eyes shut tight and teeth clenched together. Bringing his head back up to the fight ahead, Steve’s eyes widened as he quickly fell to one knee, his entire shield covering his side. At that moment, both Rarity and Twilight fired two continuous beams right for him, the spells bouncing right off the Vibranium.

The two kept right at it, Rarity biting her lip as she desperately tried to hold the paralysis spell. Twilight, on the other hoof, shifted to a much more powerful spell, one that would definitely knock him off his feet. Her horn glowed a bright green, a blend of yellow and green erupting from her horn and striking the Captain’s shield. As expected, the blast blew Steve backwards, causing him to roll until he came to an eventual rest on his back. With the man prone, Twilight kicked off the ground, spread her wings, and hovered several feet above him. She quickly prepared a paralysis spell, firing it right on top of the prone Captain. Her eyes widened in shock as he brought up his shield, the spell bouncing right off and straight for her. Screaming, Twilight moved to the side, only to feel the pinching coolness of the spell strike her right wing. It froze in mid-air, remaining as stiff as a wooden board. Twilight’s expression tightened, her left wing beating desperately to keep herself afloat. It didn’t work in the end, and the princess fell to back to the earth with a scream following her. Steve rolled to his feet, staring down the unicorn that remained.

Rarity snorted furiously, her horn igniting once more. To her surprise, the Captain didn’t raise his shield to block the spell that would come his way. Instead, he ducked, allowing a yellow blur to come rushing forward. Yelping, Rarity ducked as Fluttershy surprisingly flew in like a speeding bullet right over her head. Watching the Pegasus escape, Rarity turned back to the Captain, yelping once more as he slid forward, knocking her legs out right from under her. Steve prepared to make his escape as he rolled to his feet, completely unprepared as Applejack tackled him from behind.

Black Widow ducked from the approaching yellow Pegasus, bringing her attention on the approaching Hawk instead. She ducked once more from the bow swung her way, using the momentum to drive her baton into Hawkeye’s rib cage. Grunting, Hawkeye swung again, letting Natasha duck so he could move in. He trapped her between his bow and the string, lifting her up and slamming her onto her back. He rammed the edge of the bow right over her throat, Natasha holding her baton’s up to block the bow, the two’s gazes locked for a brief moment.

“No hard feelings, Clint?” she breathed, voice ripe with exhaustion.

Clint grinned, shaking his head. “None whatsoever.”

“We still up for dinner with the family next weekend?”

“You know me so well.”

Clint could feel the bottom of her feet on his gut. He could definitely feel the force she used to push him off. Rolling to one knee, Clint looked up to see her foot come rushing towards him, right between the eyes. She stopped, however, the moment a large watermelon came flying down and hit her square in the chest. Natasha rolled, the contents of the shattered watermelon painted on her black suit.

“Sorry about the melon, Naty!” Pinkie Pie’s shrill voice called. Both Clint and Natasha turned to see the pink pony waving from about a twenty-yard distance. “I ran out of pies!”

Natasha grunted, laying her head back down on the concrete below her.

In the distance, the two devils from the Kitchen were still locked in a deadly close-quarter fight. As Frank swung a powerful strike after the next right for the devil’s head, Murdock ducked each time, driving his billy club into Frank’s exposed areas: his rib cage, his leg, and sometimes his chest. Castle roared as Daredevil sneaked in a few hits here and there. He grabbed Daredevil’s arm, twisting it, causing him to yell out, and flipped him over onto his back. Daredevil miraculously landed on his feet, driving the tip of his boot to the side of Castle’s head. Frank staggered back from the hit and Matt swiftly rose to full height, gripping his only baton, watching as Frank composed himself and waited for the devil to make the next move.

But he didn’t. The next move came from his left side, from the web-slinger landing near the two. Both Castle and Murdock turned their attention to the kid in the bright red and blue spandex, his large, white eyes growing even larger at the two.

“Well, well, we got our own little New Yorker brawl,” Spider-Man said in his incredibly-young voice, standing out to the two men. He shook his head, narrowing his eyes on Murdock. “Sorry, Daredevil, but my money’s on us.”

And before he could respond, Spider-Man sent a helping of webbing right for him. Daredevil lifted up his arms, only to notice that his little defense wasn’t going to help him. More and more webs were shot his way, practically encasing Daredevil in a large, white cocoon. His legs and his head, however, remained free, allowing him to watch as Spider-Man shot forward and drove his feet right into his exposed chest. Daredevil landed on the ground, sticking there with the webbing covering almost every inch of his chest and back.

Spider-Man cracked his neck, chuckling as the man struggled. He looked back, his white eyes narrowing at Frank Castle. The man’s expression never changed, a continuous glare that never seemed to have an end in sight. “Um… you’re welcome?” Spider-Man said, his hands outstretched.

Frank just grunted. “I had it under control, kid.”

Peter scoffed. “Yeah, sure you did.”

He shot two strands of webbing into the nearest structure, pulling him up and out of sight. Frank watched him swing off to some other conflict, his attention shifting back to Daredevil caught up in the webs. He was practically in chains, grunting and shouting nonsense to try and escape. It didn’t matter. All that mattered to Frank was that he was immobilized, and he had a good chance as ever to get to the Winter Soldier. With that thought in mind, he took off.

“Frank!” Daredevil shouted, watching as Castle swiveled his head back and forth, scanning the airport for the Winter Soldier. He took off in the opposite direction. “Frank, no! Stop!”

But he was already gone. Murdock groaned, “Son of a bitch.” He muttered something else before returning to the webbing his was tangled in. The sounds of the Iron Man’s propulsion thrusts caught his attention, his gaze shooting straight upwards.

Tony Stark’s HUD flashed, his optics locking on to the rainbow Pegasus flying away from his reach. She shot him a quick glare, her eyes widening to see the glowing palm faced her way. “Rainbow, you’re making this so much more difficult than it has to be!” Tony yelled, his voice loud enough for the Pegasus to hear. He fired off a repulsor blast, aiming for her wing, the pony easily dodging it.

Rainbow Dash grunted, shooting her eyes back for a quick glance. Tony was on her rainbow tail, his palm lighting up once more. With the sweat streaming, to the strands of her rainbow mane practically glued to her forehead, Rainbow tensed up, her teeth scraping against each other. She waited for the repulsor blast, heard it, then made a daring move left. It was so fast that Tony couldn’t have anticipated or reacted to it fast enough. Rainbow Dash shot left, spun back, and drove her hooves right into the side of Tony’s helmet. All in less than a second.

Red lights flashed in his head, Homer declaring, “Contusion detected on our left.” Tony groaned. He brought his attention through the static in his HUD to see the Pegasus return in his line of sight.

Slightly sluggish, Tony raised his palm again, saying, “Give up… Rainbow. You’ll never—”

His voice paused. Rainbow Dash cast him another quick glance before returning forward. In that second she wasted, she noticed the approaching War Machine flying right for her, his palm outstretched, the red orb glowing and ready to fire. With Rhodes nearly on top of her, Rainbow kicked up as hard as she could, her wings on fire, as she shot straight up into the air.

And looked down to see the two crash into one another. Sparks flew, Tony Stark spinning out of control as he came to a crash into the pavement below. James Rhodes faced the same fate, landing right next to Starlight Glimmer.

Screaming in surprise to see War Machine land right next to her, Starlight wasn’t prepared when the Ant-Man came charging for her. He took out her foreleg, causing her to fall to her face. Scott Lang acted fast, hopping from her nose to her eyelid, then grabbing onto her ear and launching himself into her mane. The unicorn groaned, those groans turning into yelps of pain as she felt strands of her mane being yanked out. Inside the forest of purple and light aquamarine, Scott grabbed an armful of hair and pulled. The mare screamed, hopping right into the air and landing flat on her face.

She heard the Ant-Man say, “I usually don’t pull on hair to win a fight, but for a pony… I can make an exception.”

Starlight growled, seeing red. Standing back up, she charged up her horn, screaming, “You’re not winning anything!” Starlight fired off a pulsating wave of magic, strong enough to encompass her entire body and knock away any foreign intruder. That intruder just happened to be Lang, the insect-like man basically falling to his doom, which was about two feet from the ground. Reacting fast, he grew back to normal size and landed on his back. He looked up, muttering some words of terror as the fuming unicorn began to approach him.

Starlight bared her teeth, growling like an animal, her seething gaze centered on the man in the insect suit. Lang tried desperately to crawl away, even rising up to full height and holding out his hands to the unicorn, trying to talk his way out of it. Starlight only growled, screaming, “Now, freeze!”

Her horn lit up a bright blue, a paralysis spell shot right for him. Scott held out his hands in a desperate attempt to block the magic. He surprised even himself when it did. At least, he thought it did. Lang lowered his arms, noticing a red haze of energy shielding him between the unicorn. Starlight’s expression looked shocked, then quickly reverted back to her fuming expression earlier. Spell after spell, she kept impacting the red shield, never once breaking it, never once getting closer to doing so. Her rage dictated her action, causing her to lash out in uncontrolled, child-like spasms.

It was ultimately her downfall. The red shield shot out towards her, knocking the unicorn flat on her back and holding her strapped to the pavement. Starlight tried to move, tried to teleport, but felt the red magic surround her horn, cutting off her magic. She looked up, saw the Ant-Man lower his arms to his side, his stance becoming less tense when he realized she wasn’t a threat anymore. He turned his red eyes to the Scarlet Witch coming up to his side, her palms still surrounded by the red haze, her fingers still dancing, still keeping Starlight at bay.

But not much longer. A green beam of energy shot down and struck Wanda in the chest with such speed and such ferocity that it knocked her on her back, caused her to roll a few times, and come to a rest flat on her chest, her eyelids heavy as pain-filled groans escaped her. Lang flinched from the energy beam, looking up and yelping in fright. He shrunk down before the green energy beam could strike him, making his escape.

As Starlight felt the magic leave her grasp, she sat upwards, moaning and rubbing her horn. Twilight landed next to her, both of her wings functioning properly now, albeit the right one still twitching in agitation from the healing spell Twilight applied earlier.

“Twilight…” Starlight mumbled, flinching as she rubbed her horn.

Twilight turned her way, sighing. “Starlight,” she said, holding out her hoof for her to grip, “… are you okay?”

Using Twilight’s hoof as a crutch to stand, Starlight stood up to all four hooves, breathing heavily, staggering slightly. She shook her head, Twilight’s worried expression held to hers. Starlight gulped down the spit that wasn’t there, her voice so dry that her tone was cracking. “This is insane.”

Twilight looked away. She saw as Captain America fought Spider-Man, flinging his shield and cutting off his webbing he used to swing with. She watched as the Vision fired a golden beam of energy right for the Falcon, Sam Wilson zipping back and forth with such speed that even the Vision had trouble hitting him. She could see as Rainbow Dash tackled Natasha into the cement, flying off and doing the same to Applejack and Rarity. And in it all, there was Fluttershy, flying to nowhere, screaming, crying, doing everything in her power to get away from the fight, but also not wanting to leave her friends to get hurt. She was trapped. Utterly trapped.

Twilight sighed. “I know.”

Iron Man bombarded the runway with small missiles, knocking Daredevil off his feet and causing Barton to shield himself from the flames. War Machine landed by the two men, driving his forearm into Daredevil’s chest and launching him into the side of a nearby plane. Barton slammed the edge of his bow against his head, only to realize it did nothing and duck as Rhodes swung for him. Not too far away, the Winter Soldier and the Black Panther were locked in a heated stare, both of their hands gripping each other’s throats.

Bucky tightened his grip around the Panther’s throat, his emotionless, silver eyes practically digging into him. The Panther’s grip on his own throat tightened. Sputtering with the hand on his throat, Bucky managed to mutter, “I didn’t kill your father.”

“Then why did you run?” T’Challa asked, his voice filled with pure malice and hate.

“Because you’re trying to kill me.”

T’Challa ignored him, grabbed his metal palm, twisted it until the Winter Soldier roared in agony, then drove both of his feet right into the man’s chest. Bucky staggered, fell back, and felt himself crash into the side of a pile of wooden boxes. He groaned, rose up, and felt that same hand come crashing over his throat once more. He looked up and saw the second hand rise, claws unsheathing, the voice of the Panther screaming, “Die!”

But before those claws came down on him, and to the Winter Soldier’s luck, a large boot came across T’Challa’s face, the right side of it to be precise. The strike was so profound and powerful that the Black Panther rolled several times before coming to a rest, trying to stand back up but failing to do so. Bucky took in a breath of relief, only to be caught when that same boot struck him across the face. Rolling, Bucky stood back up, his eyes landing on the white skull first of all, then to the face glaring his way.

Frank Castle growled something, something Bucky couldn’t hear or he just chose to ignore. The second after he spoke, Frank pulled out, hidden beneath his pant leg, a short combat knife. The tip shined in what little sunlight there was. That same tip reared Bucky’s way. Bucky was ready, though, and with eyes and hands at the ready, he moved out of the way, preparing himself for Castle’s next strike.

Castle twirled the knife in his hand like the expert he was in close quarter combat. Bucky licked his lips, eyes shifting from the knife and back to Castle’s eyes. He studied them, waited for the moment he knew he would strike. And when he did, Bucky was ready. Frank stabbed and swung and sliced at nothing but the air, the Winter Soldier moving and dodging each swift strike from the blade. He pushed Castle’s arm aside after every other stab he attempted. Frank roared, pushing further, stabbing faster, swinging harder.

He wasn’t losing concentration like Bucky had thought. His anger wasn’t getting the best of him, which Bucky thought would have made him abandon his training and go for wild, uneven, uncoordinated shots. But no. He was fast, he was coordinated, he was ready, and he was pissed off. Bucky never slowed down.

Frank stabbed forward, Bucky dodging and driving his elbow down on Castle’s arm. He latched himself onto the Punisher, refusing to let his arm go. With such close distance, Frank drove his forehead right into the Winter Soldier’s nose, knocking him lose. As the blood began to flow, Bucky staggered back, holding out his metal palm as the blade came at him. He could feel the steel tear right through his palm, the tip of the knife protruding from the back of his hand. It quickly pulled out, Castle driving his fist across Bucky’s temple and causing the man to stumble.

Bucky faced forward, blood dripping from his nose, as Castle moved in and stabbed him.

Barnes screamed. He could feel the coolness of the blade on his insides, tearing through with unrelenting strength and fury. As Castle pulled out, Bucky instantly shot both of his hands onto the wound, fresh blood pouring free. He staggered and fell, gasping for air like a fish out of water, eyes glazed over and in shock, sweat pouring from his face. He didn’t see Frank standing above him, the bloody knife in his bloody palm raised over his bloody face.

He almost brought the blade down.

He almost did.

Captain America’s shield stopped him.

It hit Frank’s head so hard the resounding clang of metal against bone was all that Castle heard for a while. He dropped the bloody knife, staggered sideways, then fell on his back in a daze. Bucky barely lifted his head to see him fall, but he turned to see Steve approach from the side. He placed his shield back to his right arm, looked down and almost gasped.

The first thing he saw was the blood, then the small pool growing around him. He shook his head, reaching down and picking up his friend by the arm. With Bucky’s arm across his shoulders, Steve grunted and pulled him out of harm’s way, out of the fight and into cover.

None of them saw Twilight, but she saw everything.


2:51 p.m.



Rainbow Dash found some clarity in the chaos and came to a screeching halt next to Pinkie Pie. The mare was held down in a makeshift bunker, only a few piles of oranges lying next to her. Pinkie turned away from the binoculars she held to turn to the Pegasus. Rainbow studied Pinkie’s setup, tilting her head only slightly before nodding. “How you holding, Pinkie?” she asked.

Dropping her binoculars, Pinkie shouted, “I’m running out of fruit! All I have left are these orange slices!” She grabbed the nearest orange she could and tore it into four slices. Tears sprang up in her eyes, the mare crying out, “They’re not strong enough to cause physical harm! We’re doomed!”

Shaking her head, Rainbow studied the battlefield ahead of her. She eyed the Quinjet still resting on the other side of the conflict. Rainbow had just sat out for a few moments to catch her breath and she was already feeling weary again just staring at what lied ahead. Biting her lip, she pressed down on her ear, saying, “We’re gonna need some backup, Cap.”

It was short few seconds before Steve replied, his voice in turmoil. “We got our hands tied here. Buck’s bleeding bad. I’m gonna try and get him to the Quinjet.”

“How many of us are making it out of here?” Scott’s voice asked through the shared comms link.

“Not many,” Clint replied. Rainbow could see him roll on a pile of wooden boxes in the distance, readying another arrow. “Most of us are gonna have to stay here to keep ‘em preoccupied. Cap, Buck, you two are gonna have to go on without us.”

“You’ll need some help getting to Siberia,” Rainbow said, pressing on her ear. “I’m seeing this through to the end, Cap.”

“I’m down for that,” Sam’s voice added. Rainbow could see him currently having to deal with Tony and Rhodes. “All in favor of Steve, Buck, and Dash going?”

All of Steve’s team replied with a solid: “Aye.”

“I’m tired of all this fighting anyway,” Fluttershy said.

“Same here,” Spike agreed.

“I actually don’t want to go to prison again, so…”

“You’re staying, Tic Tac,” Sam told him.

Everyone could hear him sigh. “Got it.”

Steve wasn’t silent for long. He said, “Sam, we’re gonna need a diversion.”

Instead of hearing Sam’s voice reply and come up with a plan, everyone heard Scott speak up. “Hell, I’m going to prison anyway, so might as well try it. I can be your diversion, Cap, so run like hell when you see me,” he told them, falling silent after that.

“What’s he talking about?” Bucky grumbled, an awful groan following.

The comms were silent after that. Rainbow Dash lowered her hoof, her mind boggling, trying to come up with a solid idea on how someone like “Ant-Man” could come up with a big enough diversion so Steve, Buck, and herself could get away to the Quinjet safely.

She didn’t think long. Pinkie’s hoof tapped her shoulder repeatedly, earning her attention. “Oh, hey, Rainbow!” Pinkie shouted, grabbing Rainbow Dash’s face and twisting her neck in the direction Pinkie was looking. “Does that count as backup?!”

About to rip herself away from Pinkie’s unnaturally strong grasp, Rainbow just couldn’t find the strength to do so. Because several hundred yards ahead of her, she saw something that she almost didn’t believe. It was Scott, and like he said, he created a big enough diversion. Somehow, someway, Scott Lang had grown seven stories taller. In his hand, he literally held Twilight by her hind leg, the Alicorn looking back and appearing just as shocked as Rainbow Dash was.

The mares sat in awe, Pinkie beaming like a child on the Fourth of July, and Rainbow appearing as if she was seeing fireworks for the first time in her life. Shock and awe. They could hear Scott laughing from where he stood.

With Pinkie’s hooves mashing her cheeks, Rainbow Dash nodded dumbly. “Yeah, that’ll work.”

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